packbat: A bat wearing a big asexual-flag (black-gray-white-purple) backpack. (hiking)
Friday, September 17th, 2010 09:28 pm

Are you a boot person or a shoe person? Why?

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I prefer lightweight shoes for everyday purposes - I like the aesthetics of boots, and I like the practicality of boots, but if I were going to go all (warning: TV Tropes!) Limited Wardrobe, it would be with a well-made, comfortable pair of leather shoes.

Since I'm not, I wear trainers, mostly, and boots when it's raining. Or I'm out hiking.
packbat: A bat wearing a big asexual-flag (black-gray-white-purple) backpack. (Default)
Sunday, March 28th, 2010 01:19 pm

Do you believe that a higher power controls our fate or that we choose our own destinies?

Submitted By [livejournal.com profile] adorlee_malfoy

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"No" is the short answer. I don't believe that there is such a thing as fate or destiny - the world is far more chaotic than that.
packbat: One-quarter view of the back of my head. (quarter-rear)
Sunday, February 21st, 2010 06:28 pm

Given the choice, would you prefer to be a world-class (visual or performing) artist or an intellectual genius? Which, in your opinion, would facilitate a more fulfilling career and social life?

Submitted By [livejournal.com profile] numbartist

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Why, this is perfectly straightforward. "Intellectual genius" and "world-class artist", respectively.

...what?

Oh, the contradiction. Yeah, I just have to own that one. The thing is, somewhere in my head, I have this driving principle which seeks out knowledge rather than pleasure. "Socrates dissatisfied", as they say. The thing is, though, I do so even though I dispute John Stuart Mill's thesis: I would be more content, not merely happier, if I chose to subordinate my intellectual drive and took up the paintbrush. I just choose not to. I prefer to choose the less pleasant when offered the choice of truth or happiness, or even truth and safety, or truth and pride - I would rather know the truth, though it tear me to pieces.

Which, to disgress, may be part of what I find so compelling in Bruce Sterling's Islands in the Net. And that may be as satisfactory a conclusion as any to the post.
packbat: One-quarter view of the back of my head. (quarter-rear)
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 12:59 pm

Given the choice, would you rather sleep in or eat a delicious breakfast? Is there any food you love so much that you'd wake up at dawn or travel a great distance just to eat it?

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Given the choice (which I never am, as I am asleep): breakfast. Breakfastfood is the business.

...which is why I would go along with my roommates in the wee hours of the morning to Denny's, I suppose!
packbat: A bat wearing a big asexual-flag (black-gray-white-purple) backpack. (hat)
Saturday, November 28th, 2009 11:59 am

What are the three best books you have ever read and what are the three worst? What made them so good or bad?

Submitted By [info]crazylove16

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With the caveat that I'm just naming books off the top of my head, and I might miss something perfectly obvious, and the further caveat that I only include books that I've read straight through:

Best:

Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome

One of the best English humor books ever written. Three English blokes (and a dog) decide to go on a trip up the Thames river. What makes it hilarious is J's writing - he is a brilliant raconteur with a poetic, charmingly digressive style, and he finds exceptional material in his reminisces.

(Conveniently, it is available online in several places.)

Islands in the Net by Bruce Sterling

You could describe it many ways, but it feels to me a bit like film noir Twenty Minutes in the Future (as they say on the Tropes of the TV). Remarkably, it's still Twenty Minutes in the Future despite being published in 1988 (five years before the Eternal September), which should give you an idea of how strong Sterling's SF chops are. In any case, this stands out for its skilled worldbuilding (of course), characterization, and pacing. Events occur kinetically yet vividly, which is a fine line to walk.

Watership Down by Richard Adams

Reportedly, somewhere in the television series Lost, a character named Sawyer says about this: "Hell of a book! It's about bunnies." It would be difficult to describe it more eloquently in less space.

Taking advantage, then, of having more: this is my very first favorite book, and I'm proud to say that it's held up well for more than half my life, reading it again and again. Richard Adams possesses the most fluent descriptive voice that I have ever encountered, and paces it with a master's grace. There is a simply beautiful passage where Hazel (the protagonist) pauses at the mouth of a burrow to check the surroundings before going out in the field, and Adams takes this moment of time to describe in lyrical terms the sights, smells, and sounds of that instant. It is a beautiful trick of the writing art, and Adams wields it with virtuosic skill. A true classic, in the sense of a work which survives the test of time.

And fun to read! Hell of a book, like the man said.


Some books which I considered, but did not include in the top three:
  • Shardik by Richard Adams
  • A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
  • A Woman of the Iron People by Eleanor Arnason
  • A Contemporary Introduction to Free Will by Robert Kane
  • Fooling Some of the People All of the Time by David Einhorn
  • The Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
  • Seven Days in May by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II


Worst:

Caveat: I enjoyed most of these. All of them, if I'm honest. I (mostly) don't finish books if I don't. That said...

Born to Run by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon

Cheesy modern fantasy. It makes this list less out of any flaw than out of general lack of merit.

War of Honor by David Weber (Book Ten of the Honor Harrington series)

The Honor Harrington series follows a very simple formula. That formula has worn paper-thin by Book Ten. The new elements Weber introduces to liven it up do precisely the opposite, except where they introduce a little excitement by being profoundly stupid. I had enjoyed the first two books in the series, continued reading the series out of intertia, and ran out on this one.

In truth, this is probably the worst of my three-worst list. But I feel obliged to bump it from that slot in light of...

The Radiant Warrior by Leo Frankowski (Book Three of the Conrad Starguard series)

...which features censored ) trope. The first four books are pure fluff otherwise - time-travel wish fulfillment fantasy of the most elemental sort - but the misogynistic aspects are utterly grating. Fortunately, the most epochal Crowning Moment of Awesome for the series is in Book Two. Unfortunately, as far as respect for women is concerned, the aforementioned censored ) is more a dip than a chasm in the narrative.


(I will not include a near-misses list here - I have too much respect for NAME REDACTED and NAME REDACTED, and TITLE REDACTED wasn't supposed to be good in the first place.)

(Edit: Actually below all three books on the list is a Dean Koontz book I read ages ago, my former copy of which my mother decided should be dismembered and recycled rather than continue to exist. I take pride in not remembering the title - it featured incest, Body Horror, thoroughly horrible people, and was written in a loving style which cannot reflect well on the author.)
packbat: A bat wearing a big asexual-flag (black-gray-white-purple) backpack. (spectator)
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009 09:57 am

What three items would you place in a time capsule to help future generations understand you?

Submitted By [profile] mausengeist


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...oh, wait - it's future human generations! That makes things simpler!

I'd say the following would be quite informative of my personal habits and development:

  1. Imre Lakatos, Proofs and Refutations.
  2. Turn 10 Studios, Forza Motorsport 2.
  3. Hergé, The Adventures of Tintin: Red Rackham's Treasure.


If the videogame is out, substitute Abramowitz and Stegun.
packbat: A bat wearing a big asexual-flag (black-gray-white-purple) backpack. (spectator)
Saturday, October 31st, 2009 11:14 am

Have you ever participated in a seance? If not, would you consider it? What spirit would you summon and what question would you ask them? Do you believe we can get messages from the dead?

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I haven't - I might attend one as a favor for a close friend if they wanted me there. If I did, though, I wouldn't be planning on trying to summon any spirit at all, or expect to get any message from the dead. I'm fairly sure that death is the end.

That said, I wouldn't object having a chance to have a real conversation with my maternal grandfather. I just think it's impossible.
packbat: A bat wearing a big asexual-flag (black-gray-white-purple) backpack. (spectator)
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009 09:39 am

If you're trying to create something, like a story, a composition, or a design, etc., do you find yourself imagining how others will react to it? Does that impede or enhance the creative process?

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Oddly, I don't usually think of other people when I'm working on an aesthetic endeavor (as opposed to a practical matter, such as a user interface). Perhaps I should - when I judge it purely for myself I rather come off poorly.
packbat: A bat wearing a big asexual-flag (black-gray-white-purple) backpack. (Default)
Sunday, October 11th, 2009 07:39 pm

When you take a class or attend a big meeting, where do you prefer to sit? Up close or way back where you can make a speedy get-away? Can you force yourself to focus even when you're not interested?

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I usually want to sit near the front and far from the exits - near the exit if I have to leave early, but I rarely do. As for paying attention, I have trouble when I'm sleep-deprived, but boring material is rarely an obstacle: you can always treat it as an anthropological expedition when all else fails.
packbat: A bat wearing a big asexual-flag (black-gray-white-purple) backpack. (Default)
Friday, September 18th, 2009 07:58 pm

If a magic genie told you your calories wouldn't count for 24 hours, would it change what and how much you ate that day?

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If a bonafide, JREF-certified magical genie I could trust to be truthful said my calories wouldn't count for 24 hours ... I'd try something which [info]filthspigot mentioned in the commentary to A Girl And Her Fed: a milkshake with a stick of butter in it.
packbat: One-quarter view of the back of my head. (quarter-rear)
Sunday, September 13th, 2009 01:40 pm

If an online psychic warned you not to leave home, would you cancel plans to attend a party? Would you refuse to date someone with a clashing astrological sign?

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If, today, someone online proclaimed to have discovered through psychic powers that I should not leave home, I would consider three possibilities:

1. They were trolling in an attempt to disrupt my life.
2. They knew something, and were hiding that knowledge behind the excuse of "psychic powers".
3. They had a strong feeling that I was in danger, and interpreted it as a warning.

The first implies nothing. The second is extremely unlikely, but implies danger. The third implies almost nothing.* Whatever the true facts, I would not let it interfere with my plans (although I might be marginally more alert to unusual circumstances).

As for astrological signs ... frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

* I am aware that there are individuals on my friends list that would dispute this. Such persons should trust their own judgements on the matter as far as they feel justified in doing so - I shall trust my own judgement likewise.
packbat: A bat wearing a big asexual-flag (black-gray-white-purple) backpack. (spectator)
Saturday, September 5th, 2009 01:38 pm

What's the most-played song in your music library?

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Weirdly, not Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Tracy Chapman, Suzanne Vega, R.E.M., Shawn Colvin, Dire Straits, Tom Petty, Patty Griffin, 10,000 Maniacs, Counting Crows, Spoon, Peter Gabriel, Regina Spektor, Alanis Morrissette, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Doors, The Police, or even The Be Good Tanyas. Remarkably, the track in question is "Nowheres Nigh" by Parts and Labor, a track off the Jagjaguwar 2008/2009 Sampler Amazon.com had as a free download a while back.

It's pretty kickin' when you crank the volume, though, so that's cool.
packbat: A bat wearing a big asexual-flag (black-gray-white-purple) backpack. (Default)
Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 09:57 am

Do you believe in fate? Why or why not?

Submitted By [livejournal.com profile] and2c_hersmile

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Assuming the author meant, "Do you believe fate exists?" - no, I don't.

Quick definition: fate is that which must happen regardless of any person's choices, regardless of any person's actions, regardless of any conceivable action by any conceivable person, ever. You know how Oedipus killed his dad and married his mom? Yeah - fated, had to happen.

Well, the universe doesn't work like that. If Oedipus had confronted his foster parents about the prophecy, none of it would have happened. Heck, if the weather had been a little different and he'd died of exposure on the road, none of it would have happened, and the weather is chaotic - anything you do can change it a month down the road.
packbat: A bat wearing a big asexual-flag (black-gray-white-purple) backpack. (Default)
Friday, May 1st, 2009 07:52 am

Robert Frost speculated about the world ending in fire or in ice. Which do you think is likely to end us all: meteorite, global warming, nuclear weapons, zombies, or the superflu?

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"All" is the key word in that question. Nuclear weapons or meteorite. None of the others have the pure biosphere-warping powers of those two.
packbat: A bat wearing a big asexual-flag (black-gray-white-purple) backpack. (Default)
Thursday, April 30th, 2009 10:15 pm

Are you worried about catching the swine flu? Do you have a plan for avoiding contagion or dealing with quarantine?

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The problem with the swine flu isn't that it's deadly, but that it might spread easily through the population. It probably kills something like one in two hundred who catch it, if previous outbreaks are any measure - but if very few people have resistance to the disease, that could become a two-hundredth of hundreds of millions of people, so it's worth taking precautions.

But nah, I'm not scared. I'm not even convinced it'll go pandemic.
packbat: A bat wearing a big asexual-flag (black-gray-white-purple) backpack. (Default)
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 05:19 pm

The first LiveJournal communities began in December of 2000, and now there's a community for any and every topic possible. What is your all-time favorite LJ community?

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As blatantly [livejournal.com profile] community_promo as it may seem, it's [livejournal.com profile] nomicide - the Livejournal Nomic community I manage with [livejournal.com profile] active_apathy. It's one of my favorite games, and I'm thrilled to be playing it, still.
packbat: A bat wearing a big asexual-flag (black-gray-white-purple) backpack. (Default)
Sunday, April 26th, 2009 10:45 am

Do you volunteer your time or donate money to any charitable organizations? Which ones, and why?

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I donate a lot of blood to the American Red Cross. Mostly because of Hal Clement.

No, I'm serious. I was reading Hal Clement books all the time as I grew up, and the biography always mentioned that he donated a lot of blood.
packbat: A bat wearing a big asexual-flag (black-gray-white-purple) backpack. (Default)
Saturday, April 25th, 2009 09:15 am

Out of all of your favorite books, pick just one you'd recommend everyone read. As a bonus: why did you pick that one?

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Three Men in a Boat by Jerome K. Jerome. Picked it for two reasons:

  • It's well-written.
  • It's funny.


Seriously. If you can read in English, I think you will enjoy this book. J. is one of the greatest raconteurs of all time.

P.S. It's out of copyright - 1889 - so it's available everywhere online.
packbat: A bat wearing a big asexual-flag (black-gray-white-purple) backpack. (Default)
Sunday, April 19th, 2009 06:01 pm

Would you ever go on a silent retreat? How long do you think you could go without talking?

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Assuming no emergencies arose, assuming textual writing was prohibited ... the first day and the first week would be the hardest, but I could do it. It would be an interesting experience, I am sure.
packbat: A bat wearing a big asexual-flag (black-gray-white-purple) backpack. (Default)
Wednesday, April 15th, 2009 11:44 pm

It's Tax Day in the U.S., a day when the mind might be too occupied with deductions and long lines at the post office to think about poetry. But let's try: what's your favorite line of poetry? Song lyrics count.

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But I, being poor, have only my dreams ...

(No appropriateness intended.)